ThrOugH yOUr EyEs

Margaret Wolfe Hungerford coined the phrase, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

William Shakespeare once said, "The eyes are the windows to the soul."

It's all in the eyes. What do you see when you look at me? What do you see when you look at you? What do you see when you look at others around you? What do you see when you look at the world?

I am not content with closing my eyes while I listen to the screams of nations crying out for aid.

I am not cool with closing my eyes while underprivileged families go four and half years without clean water.

I am not comfortable with labeling little children terrorists or refugees. At the end of the day, they are just children. At the end of the day, are we screw-ups simply because our parents were?

I am not thrilled about a systemic, structural, and social condition that allows the face of racism to morph into one less overt but still just as evil.

It's nearly impossible for me, in my old age, to buy that silence, particularly on important issues, does not equal consent, or at the very least, a weak endorsement.

I can't honestly say I am the greatest champion of world causes but if you pillage villages, forcibly unseat kings and emperors, rape their women and children, enslave their people, hunt endangered species into extinction, and steal every valuable natural resource you can find, you don't get to mock the condition of the said country. That's the truth, the *hole truth and nothing but the truth.

I am hopeful that my grandson's classmates have been allowed to play with "brown children" now at his elementary school. He's been pretty lonely at recess.

I am not willing to accept that charitable giving can still somehow make the rich richer and keeps the poor and less fortunate very much poor and less fortunate.

I can love watching old mysteries like "Perry Mason" and "Peter Gunn" and still clearly see what that era's view of beauty looks like. It's still a struggle to understand in 2018.

I am still incredulous that my favorite sport (which I try to quit but I can't let go) is still often run like a dictatorship at times. (I used 'dictatorship' for lack of a more suitable, more PC word.)

I don't believe we can be found blameless when we restrict or forbid ourselves from using our voice and our resources to help others. (Pick a social issue. They all probably apply.)

I live in a place where often southern hospitality is reserved for those who talk like, have similar back stories with, or have a physical resemblance with the ones being "hospitable". Your top ten lists are a sham!

I am not able to resign myself to see an impressionable African American boy with a "Coolest Monkey in the Jungle" T-shirt on as being cute or acceptable.

I am not okay with friends only offering "thoughts and prayers" when a helping hand is required and available. And that's from someone who firmly and adamantly believes "prayer changes things."

I am very guarded against "reacting to the headlines" but "ignoring the content". That is an ever present danger for all of us.

I am gravely concerned how easy it is for so many to callously attach themselves to a legitimate movement that is decades overdue. If one's not careful, we could forget what this is supposed to be about.

Is there a proposed date on the calendar when we will start thinking generationally and not just about the fleeting moment we're in? Just asking for a friend...

So what does your world look like? Do you see hope? Can you see humanity beneath a hue or a tint? How do things look through your eyes? Sometimes even the simplest of things can become pretty blurry.

Thank you so much for reading, sharing, and subscribing to "Mirror Time With Mistayu". Hope this was worth your time.

KinGS aNd KinGdOMs

Honestly..
Sincerely..
I am in a quandary.

I don't think the world is ready. But then I believe the world is anxiously waiting.

What is the impact on a house and all its inhabitants when the foundation is undone without ample time to prepare? What does the fallout look like? What does the plan for recovery look like? Is there actually avoidable recovery that can be made?

Read your bibles and you have access to the blueprint of kings and kingdoms. Empires and nations. Rising and falling. It's almost as old as time itself. Like Solomon scribed, "There's nothing new under the sun!"

If one doesn't want a family secret to be told or seen by future generations, they have multiple options. They can burn the books that tell the story. Our they can burn the storyteller so they can't tell the story. They can tear down every symbol that represents that truth and build something else in its place. They can use trickery and deceit to cut off the strength of their enemy and pluck out his eyes. They can feed an emperor a royal feast of meat and wine and when he is merry, fall upon him with a sword. They can procure a nation through back door politics, bribes, and conspiracy. Dressing up a King in the garments of a slave and taking his crown doesn't make him less of a King. Ask the Romans about that. That comes from a place far deeper than royal garments, a crown, and a scepter could ever truly provide.

I know you can hear but are you able to listen. I won't demand that you spend your ten dollars or dictate how you spend it but I do have a suggestion. Do what, in the minds of many, is unthinkable. Momentarily put aside what you think you know and understand about Black culture and African Americans in general. I know it's difficult to blot out the images you've been given your whole life but just this once, walk through those double doors without reading reviews or asking your friends what they think. Take your friends and your family out for movie night and go see Marvel's Black Panther.

Why? Hear me and hear me well. This could be a moment that changes everything. Maybe not the world you currently find yourself living in but it could enhance your vision. That's the key to changing everything. Who would've thought that enlightenment could come through a comic book movie? You're going to be pleasantly surprised and amazed. It's so much more than that. It's a door into a world many never wanted you to see. I'm awestruck that even in 2018, you're even being given the opportunity. This is once in a lifetime stuff! This is eye opening, mind changing stuff!

Black Panther. Not the connotation from the Civil rights movement or anything that has been painted as negative, divisive, and anti-American. What you may be witnessing predates all that and speaks to something much more profound. This is the one movie that got the whole world shook. Communities...shook. Ideologies...shook. Your sense of normal...shook. This might be THAT moment where you find out who your true friends are and I mean that with all seriousness! Your circle of friends may dramatically change and you may find this movie will either enhance or mess up your life. This movie possesses that kind of impact. It's the truth shovel for centuries worth of buried lies. Can't cut the nose off of this one. Can't burn the pages and pretend it doesn't exist. The bell has been rung and it can't be undone. People treat you the way they see you and often because of how you see you. What if everything you've been taught left out some very important details? What would change about your right now if you possessed that knowledge? How do you proceed if you found out your whole life was founded upon a lie? Your name. Your family. Your heritage. Your affinity for a specific vocation and subsequent career goals. Everything you thought you knew was all wrong. This movie, if you can hear the distinctive sound it is guaranteed to make, could be game changing to say the least. 

This movie is the one even non comic book lovers and non Marvel Universe fans MUST see. It bears an clear and emphatic message history books have conveniently omitted. If truth (even draped in a fictional piece of cinematic ambiance) matters to you, you may find this refreshing and unsettling at the same time. I can sit here and tell you about how this isn't about pimps, hoes, slaves, black on black crime, and uprisings against "the man". I can opine about how this will give insights into a world untouched by a need for that uprising in the first place. I can give you bullet points like Strength. Vitality. Civilized. Ingenious. Innovative. Dominant. Kingdom. I can go all day on this but I won't. History has proven that a mind that refuses to be changed is a powerful monster. It will lie, cheat, steal, and destroy to maintain what it has and even gain more. It is an immovable object. If it can't be changed then it has to be broken. Consider breaking pattern for one day. Go see it with people whose opinions you value. Go see it with those who have never been to a movie like this and never wanted to. Pay for their ticket. Go see it with the entire family. Go see it with the naysayers of comic book movies. If you have no other choice, go see it alone. Just go witness it for yourself.

I won't ask you to share this or like this or agree with any of this. I know it's scary. It's big and imposing. It makes some uncomfortable. I honestly understand and I don't blame you. But I believe it's time for this story to be told by this storyteller for the collective ear to hear.